


Keeping Auld Acquaintances Close

by firefly124



Series: 2020 AdventDrabbles [27]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Background Castiel/Dean Winchester - Freeform, Background Kaia Nieves/Claire Novak, Community: adventdrabbles, F/M, Minor Garth Fitzgerald IV/Bess Myers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 05:02:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28682997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firefly124/pseuds/firefly124
Summary: It’s been great having so much of their family at the house for Christmas. Eileen isn’t quite ready for it to be over.
Relationships: Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester
Series: 2020 AdventDrabbles [27]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2050380
Kudos: 3





	Keeping Auld Acquaintances Close

**Author's Note:**

> Written to the prompt [dressed up for the holiday with nowhere to go](https://imgur.com/a/pQhADre) for the [AdventDrabbles community on Dreamwidth](https://adventdrabbles.dreamwidth.org).

The day after Christmas was bittersweet. Eileen woke up before Sam and snuggled up to him while she thought about how wonderful the last couple of days had been with everyone there, and how empty the house would feel once they all left. A wave of nausea pulled her from her reverie and her warm bed.

Crackers. They were right there on the nightstand, too. She needed to remember to have a cracker as soon as she woke up.

Downstairs, she found Dean working on some kind of breakfast that smelled delicious but was probably going to be a bit much for her this early in the day. Castiel sat at the table nursing a coffee and observing. He smiled brightly at her and set down his mug to greet her.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” she said. “How about you guys?”

“We’re fine,” Castiel said. “Of course, the Winchester definition of ‘fine’ is a bit different than the dictionary.”

“True.” Eileen sat down next to him.

Castiel extended a hand toward her questioningly, then rested it over her hand on the table when she nodded. A warm tingle rushed through her.

“You are fine,” he agreed once he had pulled back. “Unfortunately, even if I were at full power, I would not be able to do much to ease your discomfort, as it is normal. While many women blame Eve, I believe we’ve seen that Chuck was prone to designing based on dramatic effect.”

“True enough.” Eileen agreed. She bit her lip as she debated whether to ask the question that burned in her chest. She would have an ultrasound next week, though not even that could see everything. Considering their lives, there could easily be things no mundane equipment _could_ see.

“Your baby is also fine,” the angel said. 

Had she accidentally prayed to him with that question? She hoped not. Yes, he was basically her brother-in-law, but they still barely knew each other. She didn’t want to take advantage.

“Though I think that both of you would benefit from a somewhat lighter breakfast than Dean is creating.”

Dean must have responded without turning around from the stove, because Castiel proceeded to relay to her. “Hey, this is good stuff! Oh, wait, maybe not so much on the replay. Um, toast, maybe?”

Eileen nodded. That would be a good place to start.

Sam joined them shortly, grabbing a mug of coffee before sitting next to her and planting a kiss to the top of her head.

“I think we’re getting spoiled,” he said, “having meals cooked for us in our own kitchen.”

“Better than you two doing it all,” Dean said and Castiel translated, as he came up behind her and set a plate of toast in front of her.

She was relieved to see that it was dry. She thought she could manage a little jelly, but the idea of butter was enough to make her stomach churn again.

An egg white omelet appeared in front of Sam, and then Dean plunked himself down across from them.

“It’s going to be weird,” she said once she’d scraped a bit of strawberry jelly onto her toast, “having the house to ourselves again after today.”

Sam nodded.

“What, you’re not gonna be glad to have some peace and quiet?” Dean asked. Then he flushed. “I mean…”

“I know what you mean,” Eileen said. “Maybe a little? I was thinking it would be nice to celebrate New Years together too. I bet it was hard enough for sheriffs and a nurse to get Christmas off, though, never mind New Years.”

“Yeah, I imagine the sheriffs are pretty busy New Years Eve,” Sam agreed. “Probably the hospital too, for some of the same reasons.”

“Why don’t we do it today?” Dean asked.

For a beat, nobody answered.

“What? Like the whole idea of having a party to change calendars isn’t totally made up anyway.” Dean took a swig of coffee. “We can just decide to do it today instead before everyone leaves.”

“I don’t know, Dean,” Sam said. “Nobody was planning on something like that. They might feel put on the spot to come up with something fancy to wear.”

Dean scoffed.

Castiel aimed a mild glare over her shoulder, and Eileen turned to see Claire and Kaia. 

“Sorry,” Claire said. “I just said it’s not like we’re real fancy people anyway.”

“Also, good morning,” Kaia added.

“Anyway,” Claire said, “unless anybody’s in the middle of something right then, we could probably do a video thing. If, you know, you want to.”

“That’s a great idea,” Eileen said. She finally took a bite of her toast as Sam nudged her shoulder. She turned back to him.

“You want me to set that up?” he asked. 

“That’d be great,” she replied. She was already thinking about how she wanted the party to go.

* * *

It had been fun, getting dressed up like this. The last time Eileen had had a reason to put on this dress and quite this much makeup had been for a case. Fortunately, the dress had survived the case. That was kind of surprising, considering how messy shifters were.

Sam was in one of his FBI suits, sitting at the computer and getting the Zoom room ready to go. By the time she sat next to him, Dean and Castiel had joined. Dean looked like he was wearing something even nicer than the usual FBI suit.

“It’s no big deal,” he said. “Just, I haven’t had a reason to wear it since 1944.”

“Well, show it off, then!” 

Dean’s cheeks turned pink, but he did get up and step back from the camera so they could see more of him. Castiel, she noticed, turned to appreciate this as well.

The angel, for that matter, was wearing a simple black suit that looked like it had come from the same store as Sam’s. Maybe it had. 

“Your turn,” Dean said when he returned to the screen. “Looks like you got all dolled up there.”

Eileen got up and stepped back from the computer, twirling a bit to make the skirt of her dress swish. 

“Wow, no wonder you wanted to have a party,” Alex said. She must have arrived while Eileen wasn’t looking. She was in scrubs, and it looked like she was in a supply closet. Probably she wasn’t really supposed to be doing this during her shift. “I’d hate to waste a dress like that too.”

Eileen laughed as she settled in next to Sam again. “It’s nice to get dressed up for something besides a case.”

The others arrived in ones and twos. Jody, Donna, Kaia, Patience, Claire. A few others who hadn’t been able to come for Christmas joined in too. Charlie and Stevie. Bobby. Garth and Bess. 

Sam toggled the “share screen” button” and pulled up the broadcast from New Orleans, where they were counting down to midnight. When the count reached zero, she pulled him in for a kiss, then picked up the champagne flute he’d set on her side of the computer. They tapped the glasses together, then raised them toward the monitor, which was back to showing everyone.

Jody had a travel mug, as did Patience. Donna had apparently stopped at the Gas ‘n’ Sip. Claire and Kaia had similar paper cups, though she doubted they held coffee. There was a note in the chat from Alex saying she had to go. Charlie and Stevie had juice glasses. Only Garth and Bess had wine glasses. Bess winked at her, realizing when she’d noticed.

When Eileen took a sip from her glass, she was surprised by the taste.

“Sam, did you pour the right one?”

He held up the bottle. It was a non-alcoholic carbonated cider, but apparently one that had mulling spices in it, which gave it a much more interesting flavor than she’d expected.

“Well, in that case …” she took a much longer sip. Then she raised her glass to the screen again. “Happy New Year!”

She leaned against Sam as he put his arm around her. One by one, people signed off. Eileen smiled and waved at each of them, wishing them a happy new year. Then she just rested into his warmth as he shut the computer down one-handed.

“Thank you for this, Sam,” she said, looking up at him. “This really meant a lot.”

He squeezed her shoulder. “Any time. You ready to call it a night?”

“I mean, I’m ready for bed,” she said.

He somehow managed to scoop his other arm under her knees and swoop her up to carry her to their bedroom. There were some definite benefits to having the house back to themselves.


End file.
